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New Nikon D700 anyone?

C

cliffpatte

Speed camera anarchist
Apparently Nikon are releasing the D700 on the first of July. It is rumoured to be an FX sensored camera in roughly the same packaging size as the D300. I guess this may appeal to people who think the D3 is a bit big and heavy.

Here are some of the links:

photographybay

kenrockwell

jacobs
 
Rumours all true then.
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/index.asp
Looks very nice indeed. My only disappointment would be the weight, down only from the D3's 1.25 to 1 kilo roughly speaking for a bare body. I was hoping for a more shoulder-friendly lightweight FX for a carry-around but this isn't it yet. I'll stick with the D3.
 
efp said:
Rumours all true then.
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/index.asp
Looks very nice indeed. My only disappointment would be the weight, down only from the D3's 1.25 to 1 kilo roughly speaking for a bare body. I was hoping for a more shoulder-friendly lightweight FX for a carry-around but this isn't it yet. I'll stick with the D3.
Click to expand...

Well, it's still smaller and lighter. And gives up very, very little in exchange. If I shot Nikon I'd prefer a D700 to a D3. Likewise I shoot a 5D instead of a 1Ds.
 
Nick_S said:
I'm more intrigued by his suggestion of a 24 megapixel DX3.
Click to expand...

I think a 24MP D3x has been a foregone conclusion for a while now. Nikon clearly need something to compete with the 21MP 1DsIII, and Sony have been bandying about their 24MP sensor for months now.

So all in all, it's looking good. Some real competition between Canon, Nikon and soon Sony will be good for photographers.

andy
 
andc said:
Well, it's still smaller and lighter. And gives up very, very little in exchange. If I shot Nikon I'd prefer a D700 to a D3. Likewise I shoot a 5D instead of a 1Ds.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. But Canons 1.2 kilo for the 1Ds vs 810g for the 5D is more of a difference. Somewhat irrelevant if you are sticking 1.5 kilos of 70-200 glass on the front of course ...

In my dreams I'd like that sensor quality but a few less features in a D40(490g)-ish size package so I could have it with me always and never miss those shots. I rarely use flash with that high iso performance I could do without the pop-up and while I don't know how much weight the 'motor' adds to a DSLR I could do without 5fps and go for my Cartier-Bresson decisive moments too if it would shave off some bulk.
It will come in time I'm sure. But in the meantime the D700 doesn't quite hit the point in the range I'm looking for personally, fabulous tool though I'm sure it is.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the long rumoured 5D replacement though.
 
I've also been thinking about the 5D replacement. Last year I decided it was time to get a replacement for my ageing 10D, and tried a 5D. The problem is it's shutter just doesn't feel as positive as i'd want, and the screen and autofocus again didn't feel decisive - it wasn't a digital version of my Eos 3.

I went with a second hand 1D Mark II instead (which is a digital Eos 3) and have really enjoyed this camera. Yes it's big and bulky, but that's all that's wrong with it. I'd thought about waiting for the 5D replacement and i'd still be waiting now if I had...

Anyhow, let's see when it comes out what it has to offer. I'd hate to think they've chased more megapixels as this is the least of my worries about the current 5D.

Cesare
 
That makes the cropped digital offerings from Leica look positively neanderthal.
Click to expand...
As far as I can tell, they've looked that way for some time... this review claims it to be a bit of an also-ran for the very things it ought to be wonderful at (i.e. low-light work), and there's no doubting the pedigree of the author...

Getting back on topic, I'm getting a bit hacked off as I've been sticking with my 10D and waiting for the 5D 'bump' as I really want full-frame. About high time they responded to the Nikon models (and I'm sure that they'll pull out all the stops this time)...
 
Hmmm, the D700 is definitely smaller than the Cliff special.

d3d700.jpg


Tempting, but my Fuji still works well and, more to the point, I seem to be drifting toward film. If only Nikon made a full-frame film camera...

Joe
 
Thanks Joe, I hadn't seen the size comparison before, puts a new perspective on things.
 
efp,

There's plenty more pix of the D700 on dpreview if you're interested.

......D300.........................D700...................D3
sidebyside_nikon-001.jpg


Seems to me that the main difference relative to the D300, apart from being full frame and having a vibrating sensor cleaner widget, is that the D700 has a proper viewfinder, like a film camera.

Actually, it looks to have a D3 class of finder. Oooooooooooooooooooooo...

Joe
 
Cesare,
agreed, the 5D is no EOS 3. On the other hand the 40D has much more of the feel you're talking about. It's a very responsive camera and in use feels most of the way towards the 1D-level to me in that area. To be honest though, I can live with the 5D. In use it handles well enough for my needs, though no doubt the replacement will at least be up to 40D levels of responsiveness. IMHO aside from the viewfinder the 40D is a nicer camera to use than the 5D. I still use the 5D much more though for the larger sensor/viewfinder. I don't really have any complaints about the 5D's AF with good glass.
I think it is inevitable that the 5D successor will have a higher pixel count if only to have something to distinguish it from the D700. So long as they can keep noise under control I have no problem with that. Which seems likely since a 1DIII sensor scaled up to full-frame would have more than 12MP (and that sensor performs well enough).
On a side note, the 40D is an excellent camera and remarkably good value these days.

andy
www.digital-coffee.co.uk


Cesare said:
I've also been thinking about the 5D replacement. Last year I decided it was time to get a replacement for my ageing 10D, and tried a 5D. The problem is it's shutter just doesn't feel as positive as i'd want, and the screen and autofocus again didn't feel decisive - it wasn't a digital version of my Eos 3.

I went with a second hand 1D Mark II instead (which is a digital Eos 3) and have really enjoyed this camera. Yes it's big and bulky, but that's all that's wrong with it. I'd thought about waiting for the 5D replacement and i'd still be waiting now if I had...

Anyhow, let's see when it comes out what it has to offer. I'd hate to think they've chased more megapixels as this is the least of my worries about the current 5D.

Cesare
Click to expand...
 
Joe Petrik said:
Seems to me that the main difference relative to the D300, apart from being full frame and having a vibrating sensor cleaner widget, is that the D700 has a proper viewfinder, like a film camera.

It looks to have a D3 class of finder. Oooooooooooooooooooooo...

Joe
Click to expand...

Only 95% coverage though.
Still one hell of a camera. I think it is very brave/stupid of Nikon considering how close it is in spec to the D3 which was only available six months or so ago.
 
Darren,

Nikon has a long-established tradition of releasing a non-pro version of their pro camera within a year or two of the pro body's availability -- e.g., the Nikkormat after the F, the FG, FM2 and FE2 after the F3, the F801 after the F4, the F100 after the F5, the D100 after the D1x, and the D200 after the D2X. The pattern is clear -- if you can wait, you get most, sometimes even more, of the pro features for considerably less money in a lighter, more compact package.

What's unusual now is that the full-frame D700 is coming so close on the heels of the D3, but the realities of digital cameras are such that a two-year gap might as well be an eternity.

Nikon could have waited another year to launch the D700 to get more D3 sales, but in the meantime they'd have no 5D equivalent and if they had sat out the moderately affordable full-frame match much longer, they'd have lost the game to Canon.

Joe
 
The D700 sounds like a very nice camera - in fact i'd suggest that if both had been released at the same time Cliff would have got the D700 rather than the D3.

This is exactly the sort of camera i'm hoping the 5D replacement will be - a pro style camera without the battery grip. The 5D is more like my 10D scaled up to full frame rather than a 1D scaled down. If I was a Nikon user the D700 looks to be a perfect camera for me, and of course this sort of camera will only drop in price over the coming months...

Cesare
 
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